Adventures of a Firang Squirrel In India

how do ya like them apples?

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL PINK CHADDI BRIGADE
IF YOU DON'T, YOU COULD LOSE SOMETHING MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN JUST YOUR CHADDI!

posted by small squirrel @ 7:17 PM 2 comments

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

I know, I am negligent

I have not written lately and I do not have an excuse.

OK, I have a lot of excuses. Work, baby, husband, life... cooking, cleaning, avoiding grocery shopping.

ugh.

I will tell you what has been bothering me a lot lately. As a parent of a child, a girl child, I am scared as all hell of what will become of her. I seem to hear more and more and more lately about children being raped, trafficked, murdered, kidnapped, starved... the list of abuses is harrowing and it keeps me up at night. Sometimes I fear that the worry will cause me to go mad.

The other day my husband noted that the baby was getting very upset each time it was time for a diaper change. My mind immediately jumped to the worst case scenario... that she was being molested at day care. My husband reassured me that this is not the case (he is a doctor, he would know) but still it took a little bit of time to realize it was just a 15 month old having a tantrum and not a case of sexual abuse.

I am honestly terrified. I do not know what I will do when it is time for her to school. I am a worrier. I have always been a worrier. I have generalized anxiety disorder, and that will not go away. And I just feel like this world is in so much worse shape than I ever remember it being in. You go to any news website, and women are being sold, raped, murdered... everyone is angry and they want to take it out on someone. And the dehumanization is astounding. Sometimes I just read CNN and weep.

Right, I know, I could be depressed. But at the end of the day shouldn't these things scare and sadden me? Is ignoring them any better? I could feasibly stick my head in the proverbial sand about all this, but that will not help prepare my daughter. Of course if I teach her to be anxious and terrified and skeptical of people, that is also doing her a potentially crippling disservice also.

What to do, what to do. Sometimes I want to take my loved ones and move to some remote island. Clearly that is not the answer either. So I guess I need to do something somewhere. Back to my original want of helping trafficked women. I wanted to do that in India, and never found an organization in Bangalore, but I guess I need to start looking for something here in DC. There has to be something.

posted by small squirrel @ 8:20 PM 6 comments

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Palin and bathroom behavior

OMG. One of McCrap's advisor's called the SNL spoof sexist.
Oh for the love of Christ.

I will say it here for the record. I think Sarah Palin is a dangerous woman. She is wildly unprepared to lead the nation. And any person in this century who would threaten a librarian to force him/her to ban a book should not be eligible to lead a free nation. We send young men and women to die in wars to defend (ostensibly, anyway) freedom and democracy. Banning books is the fucking opposite of freedom and democracy.

I hate the lies. I hate their whole maverick bullshit. I am incensed that Palin is playing the sexist card. It's all so disingenuous.

I think if McCrap and beyond-the-Palin are elected, we'll look back at W and think they are the salad days.

I am officially scared.

In other news, the ladies in my office have about as much bathroom etiquette knowledge as the men in my old office in India. First of all, raise your hand if you know the "stall rule."

OK, what it means is that if you enter a fairly empty bathroom and someone is in a stall, you do NOT enter the stall directly on either side of them. If you can help it. You skip a stall. If the bathroom is busy or there is some other kind of issue, then the rule is lifted. But it is rude to sit down and take a dump right next to someone when you can leave some room.

Got it.

And for the love of God. Some stupid bitch entered the bathroom today and proceeded to take a massive dump while on a BUSINESS CALL. What the fuck? I purposefully flushed like 4 times just in hopes that the person on the other line would hear and get that she was pooping while taking a call.

Jesus. I hate people sometimes.

posted by small squirrel @ 7:31 PM 4 comments

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ ಸರ್

Hey look, I can write my posts in kannada.

Now only if I could remember any kannada. :(

posted by small squirrel @ 8:17 PM 1 comments

Thursday, August 14, 2008

confidential to the lurker in Topsfield, MA

Hey, do I know you?
You know I grew up on the North Shore, right? Or is this all a coincidence?

I think I also have a reader in Beverly. Who are you guys?!?!?
(I mean, you're certainly welcome and all, but you've piqued my interest now!)

posted by small squirrel @ 6:53 PM 5 comments

Friday, August 01, 2008

Superstar!

The baby's advertisements are finally out.
You can see them here:

http://www.himalayababycare.com/

We were surprised to learn that they have used her pictures on the "baby pack" packaging too! Keep an eye out around India, and you just might see our daughter on a billboard near you:

Awwwwwww.

And no, we will not be pursuing other modeling opportunities for her. This was a one-off. It was fun, but it's not really the kind of future I envision for my daughter. And the pay was not as good as one might imagine.

posted by small squirrel @ 6:35 PM 4 comments

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Birthday Party!

Anjali's first birthday party was a success! I think everyone had fun. The cookies below were made by my friend Julie who does AMAZING work! Aren't those the cutest things you've ever seen?

posted by small squirrel @ 7:37 PM 7 comments

About Me

Name: small squirrel
Home: Bangalore, India

This is what happens when you take an american, move her to India, put her in an apartment and marry her off to a Kannadiga Brahmin. Again, no one said it would be pretty. But it will be pretty funny.

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